


Hereafter Volume Three

by rae_marie



Series: Echoes In the Universe [15]
Category: Bernice Summerfield (Big Finish Audio), Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: .......there's another character i want to tag but their presence is so spoilery that i can't, Gen, a happy fic for once, blair kenneth verse, fluff that made me cry to write it, i hope you enjoy the conclusion to this story everyone, this ending was so worth everything for me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 06:04:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18685606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rae_marie/pseuds/rae_marie
Summary: Blair's happy life at the Renaissance Academy is interrupted by the appearance of a threat from the past....and this time, Blair might have to face it alone....





	1. Episode One

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for sticking with me as I wrote this incredibly long fic series; thank you for all the lovely comments and kudos and all; this has been a long journey, and I hope you find the ending as satisfying as it was to write it.

Blair hit a rock and her shovel bounced back towards her. She yelped and almost fell over backwards. 

‘Careful,’ Benny said. ‘Try to not stab at the ground; you could damage potential artifacts if you do it that way.’ 

Blair nodded and tried carefully scraping away the sandy Tershan soil. 

‘That’s it!’ Benny said. ‘Who knows - maybe you’ll find the Eighth Jarda’s scroll before I do.’

Blair laughed. ‘But I’ve only just started!’ Benny smiled and knelt down next to her, brushing some of the sand away. ‘That may be so, but even beginner archaeologists can unearth big discoveries.'

Blair smiled and watched Benny as she got her own shovel and scraped away at the sand. She went back to her own digging. 

‘It’s really nice of the Curator to let us dig here,’ she said. ‘And that they might let us keep the scroll.’ 

‘The Curator is a very kind woman,’ Benny said. ‘And a very good friend.’

Blair had just opened her mouth to reply when her shovel hit something of a rather odd texture. She froze. 

‘Benny….I think I’ve found something….’ 

Benny’s eyebrows shot up and she looked over to where Blair was digging. 

‘They  _ did _ say it could be very shallowly buried….’ she muttered. ‘Put your shovel down and we’ll try to brush away the sand.’ 

Together, they carefully dusted away the dirt with brushes until a leaf of paper started to show through. 

‘Let me get that, Blair.’ Blair pulled back as Benny delicately pulled a small scroll from the ground. 

‘It’s  _ beautiful _ ,’ she breathed. ‘Can we read it?’ 

‘When we’re safe inside somewhere where we can properly examine it,’ Benny said. 

‘Okay.’ 

Benny stood and helped Blair up, and they started back for the museum. 

*****

At the back of the museum, the Curator watching, Benny unrolled the scroll. She studied it for a while, then frowned. 

‘Hmm….Blair, come over here.’ 

Blair stepped over, curious. ‘What’s -  _ oh _ .’ 

On the parchment was an exact drawing of the runestone gem she and the Doctor had been looking for all that time ago. 

‘Yeah. And the writing below….I’m no expert in Tershan, but it looks pretty ominous.’ She looked up at the Curator. ‘What do you think?’ 

The Curator walked over and studied the angular writing, then shook her head. 

‘Not good at all, I’m afraid. It says that anyone who possesses the stone will be reborn, but at the cost of their own life.’ 

‘....that makes no sense,’ Blair said. 

‘Regeneration, perhaps?’ The Curator looked at Benny. ‘It seems to hint that the artifact’s got temporal properties as well.’ 

Blair studied the scroll, then looked up at the Curator. ‘What does it say  _ exactly? _ ’ she asked. 

The Curator looked at the scroll again, then said, 

_ ‘“For those who seek to live forever, _

_ This stone will grant them their desire. _

_ They’ll be reborn with flash of fire, _

_ And their new life they will live never.”’ _

They all stared at the parchment on the table. 

After a long silence, Benny rolled it back up, put it in a bag, and took off her gloves. 

‘I’ll show this to Irving,’ she said. ‘He’s going to want to know about this.’ 

*****

As soon as she walked back into the main building of the Academy, Blair felt that something was off, and no matter where she looked, she couldn’t find any of her friends anywhere. She sighed. 

_ I guess I’ve had three years without anything disastrous happening; I’m probably about ready for some monster from the dawn of time to show up _ ….

She had one last place to look, the Common Room, and she made a beeline for it. 

*****   
  
It was almost like it was  _ quieter _ the closer she got to the Common Room. Taking a nervous, deep breath, she leapt for the doorway and jumped into the room. 

Her jaw dropped. 

‘ _ HAPPY BIRTHDAY! _ ’ her friends shouted as she stood there in shock. 

She stared at the pile of colourfully wrapped presents in the corner; the ice cream maker on the table; the group of happy aliens she’d come to know so well. 

‘We did a lot of maths to try and figure it out,’ Lisar said. ‘Brax was a  _ genius  _ at it - but we figured out your birthday for this planet’s calendar, and then we realised that you’re eighteen now, and we wanted to throw you a special party!’ 

Blair thought she was going to cry. 

‘Thank you….’ she whispered. 

‘Come and open your presents, Blair!’ Ruth called, rummaging through the pile. She pulled out an envelope and came over and handed it to her. ‘Peter and Bev and Jack couldn’t make it, but they got you a card!'

Blair eagerly opened it, and as she pulled it out, there was a snapping sound, and a giant burst of confetti shot out of the envelope and into the air. 

Blair yelped, then laughed as it fell all around her, and then everybody was laughing, even Brax, and Benny, who had just walked in. 

‘Happy birthday, Blair,’ she said, and handed her a teal paper-wrapped package. She opened it, and inside was a black leather jacket with a multitude of hidden pockets. 

This time, she really did cry. 

‘I know you always love mine when you borrow them, so I thought you should have one you don’t have to borrow.’ 

Blair sniffed and nodded, and hugged Benny. 

‘Thank you,’ she said quietly. 

*****

Blair unwrapped all of the presents in the course of a half-hour, and they were absolutely beautiful. She especially loved the hand-bound notebook Lisar gave her, bought from a planet where they made books in a special technique that had been passed down for centuries. Ruth gave her a book on astronomy, which she adored; all the illustrations were spectacular.

She was a little surprised there was nothing from Brax; however as everyone cleared out of the room to go to dinner, he and Lisar stopped Blair in the doorway. 

‘We have a surprise for you, Blair,’ Lisar said, grinning. 

‘It’s to do with the Vortex manipulator,’ Brax said quietly. ‘You remember how we thought it was finished last session?’ 

Blair’s eyes widened, and she nodded. 

‘Well it seems that it  _ is _ , and I wanted to give you the book of coordinate instructions as your birthday present.’ He held out a small booklet to Blair, who reached out and took it, breathless.

‘ _ Thank you _ ,’ she breathed. Braxiatel smiled. 

‘Most certainly! Happy birthday, Blair; I hope you’ve had a good one.’ 

She nodded eagerly. 

*****

At dinner, she couldn’t take her eyes off the manual; it was so intricate and complex, and she couldn’t believe that she, a human, understood all these numbers; it was simply magical.

After dinner, she was heading back towards her room when she heard anxious voices in Brax’s office. She stopped, worried; it sounded like Benny was in there. 

‘What do you  _ mean _ it’ll “force” you to live forever, Brax?! You couldn’t have been more ominous if you’d said it  _ killed _ you!’ 

‘The Youthstone is a terrifying power, Bernice,’ he said. 

Blair froze. 

‘This scroll lines up with the legends on Gallifrey; you remember how I told you Blair led me to the stone before, yes?’ 

‘Yeah….’

‘Well I had been looking for it after a lot of research, which uncovered the truth that whomever touches it long enough will regenerate into an incredibly hardy form, but what is  _ less _ widely known is that after the initial regeneration, you will be forever be trapped in a cycle of death and regeneration; no one knows why. It’s a rather good thing I was wearing gloves when I picked it up that first time.’ 

Blair’s blood ran cold; that sounded awfully familiar….

‘So you know where it is?’ 

‘Indeed….the Airfish that visited us that time helped me lock down the coordinates on that tracker I had installed on the gem.’ 

‘The one that teleported it away whenever someone touched it, you mean?’ 

‘The very same. It’s in Galaxy Four….’ there was the rustle of paper ‘....ah! There. Galaxy Four, space twelve-e-beta, time eleven-f-zero.’ 

‘You’re certain?’ 

‘ _ Yes _ . Although I can’t retrieve it for a week, and I’m concerned as to what damage it will do until then.’

Mind spinning, Blair took a deep breath, turned, and softly ran back the way she had come. 

*****

Coming out of the Physics lab, she looked around to make sure no one was around, then ran as quietly as she could back towards her own room. 

Once she was there, she loaded up her backpack with granola bars and freeze-dried fruit and cheese and a change of clothes, plus gloves. She considered her stuffed bear and her mp3 player, but decided it was too risky for that. She pulled on her leather jacket and looked at the Vortex manipulator that she’d retrieved, now laying on the bed. 

_ Good thing I have that coordinate manual _ , she thought.  _ I have to do this quickly, before Lisar gets back.  _

Carefully, she strapped on the manipulator, programmed the coordinates Brax had said, and with a last look around, pressed the button to dematerialise. 

Everything flashed, then went black, then there was a burst of colour.


	2. Episode Two

The Vortex swirled around her for a split second, then there was another flash, and then she landed with a painful fall on a hard concrete floor in a dark gray corridor. She laughed a little, ruefully. 

_ Haven’t seen one of  _ these _ in years _ , she thought. 

She sat there for a while, catching her breath, then checked her Vortex manipulator. It wasn’t crushed, thankfully, and the battery was - 

_ Oh no.  _

In horror, she stared at the battery with its charge indicator quickly sliding down the red zone. The screen flashed a warning, then went black. 

Blair’s heart sped up and she felt dizzy and short of breath. 

_ I can’t get back I can’t get back I -  _

She struggled with her breathing for a moment, then took a deep breath and looked around. There had to be something she could use as a distress signal; something Braxiatel would recognise so he could come looking for her.

She couldn’t see anything, so she closed her eyes and tried to calm the panic in her mind. 

After a while, she opened them again and slowly got up. She  _ would  _ find something to get home with, even if it took all day. Quietly, she made her way down the corridor until she came to a door. She studied it, then cautiously turned the doorknob, bracing herself for whatever was inside. 

Thankfully, nothing jumped out at her; the room was actually rather empty, except for a table in the center of the floor with a map spread out on it. Cautiously, she walked over to the map and studied it. 

It was quite simple, really; it seemed to be a map of this complex, and in the center of it, there was a symbol that looked very much like the runestone. 

Blair looked out the door, and with a tight nod, walked back outside. 

*****

She had been walking in the direction the map had indicated for almost an hour, and she still hadn’t reached the center.

_ What if it’s all a trap? _ she thought, then immediately all her senses were on the alert. 

_ If it’s a trap, I better stay aware of my surroundings _ . 

She stopped and looked around; the walls still seemed the same, then again, they had seemed all the same for the last hour. She frowned, and just as she did so, the walls shifted and the floor rumbled beneath her feet. 

With a yelp, Blair dove for the ground and shielded her head. The walls groaned and scraped, and the floor shook, and then….

….all was silent. 

Blair lay on the floor, panting, trying to catch her breath again, then looked up. 

Everything was different. There was no path ahead of her, and now there was a fork going on either side of her. 

With a groan of frustration, she stood up and studied them. 

_ At least the walls didn’t crush me _ , she thought. 

The path to the left seemed to lead into the dark, and when she kicked a stone that way, she heard no sound. The path to the right seemed to lead into a bright light, and she threw a stone  _ that _ way, hearing it clatter against the concrete. She looked over her shoulder at the other way one more time, then nodded resolutely, and made her way towards the opening of the light passage. 

….then she stopped. Something didn’t seem right; the air at the entrance of the tunnel was…. _ wrong _ ; it smelled wrong, perhaps? Or maybe it just seemed lighter; thinner. She couldn’t understand it. 

A while off, she could hear a strange, familiar, wheezing, trumpeting sound, but she didn’t pay much attention to it. She simply  _ had _ to find out what was down that passage….

She turned around and looked at the dark one. She didn’t feel quite as tugged towards that one, and wondered if something was messing with her head, trying to get her to go down the light path. She went to the opening and stared into the pitch black, and  _ shuddered _ . No. Mind control or not, she  _ had _ to choose the other one; she couldn’t  _ bear _ going into that pitch black darkness alone. 

Blair turned back around and walked towards the opening. She had just got one foot over when she heard running footsteps behind her and suddenly felt herself jerked back.

  
‘Don’t go down there as you value your  _ life! _ ’ cried a voice behind her. 


	3. Episode Three

Blair started to scream, but was cut off by a hand over her mouth. She abruptly stopped screaming and stared at the path ahead of her. 

The hand moved away from her mouth. ‘If I let you go, will you not go down there?’ 

Blair nodded, and she was released. She turned around and saw standing in front of her, a tall man wearing a brown tweed waistcoat. His curly brown hair was tied up neatly at the back of his head, and his sharp grey eyes looked troubled. 

‘Can we move back into the hall before we talk?’ he said. ‘The psychic noise in here is fairly deafening.’ 

Blair nodded and pulled up her mental defenses; she wasn’t going to let some stranger with obvious psionic abilities read her mind any time soon. 

She followed him out into the hall, where he paused and seemed to focus before turning to face her. 

‘That’s better. Now. How did you get here? Why were you about to go into that passageway?’ 

‘I….I’m not sure I can trust you,’ she said. ‘You’re a complete stranger, and there’s something dangerous in here.’ 

The man frowned, and his eyes seemed to shift to an icy blue, one that was hard to figure out whether it was dark or light hue. 

‘I am…. _ very  _ trustworthy,’ he said, ‘although many people might not think so.’ He looked curiously at her. ‘And what about you? You seem to have some very strong mental defenses; how do I know you’re not trying to steal the Youthstone for yourself?’ 

Blair’s eyebrows shot up, and the man nodded. 

‘I thought so. Out with it, young woman; what do you want with the Youthstone?’

Blair frowned. She wondered if this was a trap as well. 

_ Then again, this whole thing might end in a  _ fatal  _ trap if I don’t try to get out somehow….maybe I should trust this one person…. _

She closed her eyes. 

‘I’m taking a risk here, so please don’t betray me….not that asking you not to will stop you, I know….’ 

‘I will only “betray” you if you’re planning on lying and using that stone for ill,’ he said quietly. 

Blair sighed. ‘I think we’re on the same side, then,’ she said. ‘A friend of mine - a Time Lord - has been trying to find the Stone and lock it away, ‘cos of how dangerous it is, and I decided I would try and get a headstart and find it for him, but….’ she frowned down at her Vortex manipulator. ‘I can’t get back ‘cos my transport broke, and I’m stuck.’ 

‘I see.’ The man looked at her manipulator and nodded. ‘Yes….I’m afraid that’s going to take a lot of repairing; the charge pack is damaged, or perhaps was never installed properly.’ He looked at her with a slight smile. ‘A Time Lord friend, you say? I am a Time Lord as well; if we find the stone and escape here with our lives in tact, then I shall take you back to your home in my TARDIS,’ he said. 

_ So  _ that’s _ the sound I heard _ , Blair thought. No wonder it had sounded familiar. 

‘I’m…. _ Jarda _ ,’ he said. 

Blair frowned; that was familiar….

‘Wait….are you the ruler of the Tershas?’ 

The Time Lord laughed softly. ‘Perhaps….’ he said with a smile. ‘Suffice it to say, I am  _ Jarda _ , I am a  _ Time Lord _ , and we’re going to have to work together to get out of this alive. What do you say?’ 

Blair nodded. ‘I don’t think I have any choice, anyway.’ She paused. ‘....what was wrong with the light passage?’ she asked. 

‘It’s an illusion; there’s a steep drop-off several feet away from the entrance. You can only see it with exceptional psychic abilities.’ 

Blair shivered; she could have plunged to her death if she hadn’t been stopped. 

‘Thank you,’ she said. He nodded, and started back up the hall. 

‘Wait….where are you going?!’ Blair asked. ‘You can’t go down that passage - you’ll die!’ 

‘The other one is the way to go, according to my TARDIS’s databanks,’ he called.

She ran after him. ‘But it’s so dark!’ 

He stopped and looked at her. ‘Do you fear the dark?’ he asked. 

‘I….’ Blair hesitated. ‘Yeah. I do.’ 

The wall behind where they had just been shifted, blocking any exit. Jarda gave her a sympathetic look.

‘I’m afraid it’s the only way to get out of here now,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry; I’ll make sure nothing gets to us.’ 

Blair felt frozen. She felt a tugging at her mind, almost willing her to go in the direction of the light passage, and she gasped and closed her eyes.

‘I….it’s trying to pull me towards the light passage - whatever it is - ‘ She broke off when she felt a hand gripping her shoulder. 

‘I can’t override it as long as you have your mental defenses up, but I can guide you away. Come with me, and you’ll be away from the mental pressure in no time. Keep your eyes closed if you have to.’ 

Blair took a shuddery breath and nodded. She let the Time Lord guide her towards the dark passage, keeping her eyes squeezed shut; she wasn’t sure she would be able to go into it while staring into the blackness of it like that. 

‘We’re inside,’ the Time Lord said, ‘and I think you’ll be surprised at what you’ll see, if you open your eyes.’ 

Slowly, Blair opened her eyes, and was startled to see a clear, clean, well-lit passage stretching out in front of them, no longer stone and cement, but wood-panelled and off-white. 

‘It was another illusion,’ Jarda said. ‘To try and frighten us away, and draw us towards the more friendly-looking, yet more dangerous passage.’ 

‘It’s  _ incredible _ ,’ Blair whispered. She looked up at the Time Lord. ‘Do you know where to go next?’ she asked. He nodded. 

‘Down this passage, then turn to the left. It should lead us both to the stone,  _ and _ to my TARDIS.’ 

They started off down the hall, seeming almost afraid to speak. 

‘Why….why do you want the stone?’ Blair asked. ‘Do you want to hide it too?’ 

‘I am very old;’ Jarda said, ‘older than any human - especially one as young as you - could understand. I first discovered it when studying old texts on regeneration; I have had many;  _ so _ many regenerations - enough that I’m starting to regenerate into previous forms; this is the first time in a long while that I’ve had a regeneration that’s unique. 

‘Anyhow, I thought, at first, that I may be able to extend my lifespan by using it, but then discovered it’s a trick promise - it will grant you more regeneration energy, only to use it to cycle you through death and regeneration infinitely.’ 

‘That’s what I’ve heard, too,’ Blair said. 

‘Indeed. It was created by a terrible alien who wished to siphon off temporal energy from other beings in the Universe….but that’s not important now.’ 

‘So you heard about the havoc it could create and wanted to stop that?’ Blair asked. 

Jarda nodded. ‘I’ve been searching for it for quite a while.’ 

‘I guess you’re nearly near your goal, then!’ Blair said. ‘If we can get it back to my friend, I’m sure he’ll be able to lock it away safely.’ 

Jarda nodded, a strange smile on his face. ‘Time Lord friend, eh? I wonder….’ Blair raised an eyebrow, but his eyes grew wide, and he shook his head. 

‘Shh - stop….’ 

They froze. Blair couldn’t hear anything at first, then she heard a strange bumping sound coming from the left side of the hall, behind a wall. 

‘Keep moving…. _ very quietly _ ,’ Jarda whispered. Blair nodded, and they continued down the hall. 

After a few more metres, they came to a door on the left. 

‘Get behind me,’ Jarda said, and Blair did. She could hear a strange whirring sound, almost like that sonic device the Doctor had used, actually, and then she heard a lock loosen and a door open. 

‘It seems safe,’ Jarda said, tucking something back into a pocket. ‘Come; let’s go forward.’ 

They moved into the dim room, and then a light came on. 

‘Motion-sensor,’ Jarda said as Blair jumped. ‘Don’t worry.’ 

They looked around, and on a shelf in a corner was a glass case, and inside that case was a shining magenta gem. 

Jarda laughed. ‘At  _ last! _ ’ He started towards the case, but Blair grabbed at his sleeve. 

‘No - Jarda - don’t touch it with your bare hands!’ 

He looked at her curiously. 

‘My friend said that if you touch it without gloves, it will kill you infinitely.’ 

Jarda looked at it thoughtfully and stroked his beard. 

‘Hmm….do  _ you _ have any gloves?’ 

Blair nodded. ‘Yeah; I brought them along to try and take it on my own, but….I don’t know; I’m getting a bad feeling about this.’ 

Jarda raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh?’ 

‘Yeah….I keep thinking there’s more to this than either of us are realising, but I don’t know  _ what _ .’ 

Jarda walked up to the case and studied the gem, and Blair followed right behind. It really was beautiful, and it seemed a shame that it was such a heinous piece of technology.

There was a thumping on the other side of the wall, and the two of them turned sharply towards it. 

‘Do….do you know if anything lives on this planet….?’ Blair whispered. She looked around the room for something to defend herself with, and was comforted to see some sort of long sword hanging on a display on the wall. 

‘There’s…. _ something _ on this planet, but they’re not exactly what you’d call living….’ 

‘ _ Please _ don’t tell me it’s some sort of sci-fi ghost….’ 

‘No! It’s just….this is an old dumping ground for security robots.’ 

Blair whimpered. 

The bumping on the wall got louder; now it was a thumping and crashing.

‘We should take cover  _ now _ ,’ Jarda said, but they had no time to do so, for as soon as he said that, a gigantic robot crashed through the wall and tumbled out into the room.

Blair screamed and tried to pull Jarda backwards, but they both froze when the robot got to its monstrous feet and aimed what was obviously a laser gun at them. 

‘DO NOT MOVE,’ it intoned, ‘OR I WILL KILL YOU.’ 


	4. Episode Four

Blair and Jarda stood stock-still.

‘Any ideas on how to get out of this at all….?’ Blair whispered. 

‘No….unless….’ He very,  _ very _ slowly reached for the pocket where he had put the device from earlier. 

‘Why are you here?’ Blair asked the robot, hoping that would distract it. 

‘I GUARD THE GEM. I AM HERE TO KEEP IT OUT OF THE HANDS OF OUTSIDERS. AND YOU ARE OUTSIDERS.’ 

‘I actually know the person who’s been trying to keep this gem out of the hands of the bad guys!’ Blair said, her voice squeaking a little. 

‘YOU ARE OUTSIDERS. YOU WILL NOT TOUCH THE GEM.’ 

Out of the corner of her eye, Blair saw Jarda’s hand move up out of his pocket, holding a tubular device, carefully aiming it at the robot. 

‘But that’s what I’m  _ trying _ to say,’ Blair said. ‘I’m  _ not _ an outsider - I’m - ‘

‘YOU WILL DROP YOUR WEAPON OR YOU WILL BE SHOT,’ the robot said, and Jarda smiled. 

‘No….I think you’ll drop  _ yours _ .’ His hand tightened on his device. 

And the robot fired its gun. 

Blair screamed as she watched Jarda cry out in pain and arc backwards, dropping heavily to the floor. 

‘ _ NO! _ ’ she screamed. ‘ _ NO! _ ’ 

Completely blocking out the robot’s threats from her mind, Blair dove for the sword on the wall and yanked it off. 

‘ _ NO ONE THREATENS AN ALLY OF BLAIR KENNETH AND GETS AWAY WITH IT! _ ’ she roared, and  _ charged  _ at the robot.

(There was a startled moan from the back of the room, but Blair ignored it and rushed forward.)

The robot stood its ground the first time Blair thrust at it with the sword, almost seeming startled, if a robot  _ could _ be startled, then as Blair struck it again, it backed up a little, then she struck at its gun arm, and it lost its grip and dropped the weapon. 

‘TAKE  _ THAT! AND THAT! _ ’ Blair shouted, and drove the sword into the circuit panel on its front. It sparked, then sputtered, then Blair was pulled forward as the robot fell over onto its back.

She let out a cry of pain as one of the robot’s arms hit her right arm and she felt something crack.

Blair let go and fell over onto the floor, gasping for breath. The robot’s panel gave one final spark, and then the mechanical hum of its motors stopped. 

She lay on the floor, stunned; it was obviously broken, and hurt more than she’d ever guessed a broken arm could hurt. She groaned a little, then heard a faint sound across the room.

‘Blair….? Come….come over here….I’ll help you….’ 

She turned her head and saw Jarda looking at her wearily, tears in his eyes. Gingerly, she pushed herself up with her good arm and stumbled over, falling to her knees beside the Time Lord. 

‘Hold out….your broken arm….I’m about to regenerate and I can siphon off some of the energy….’ 

‘No that’ll hurt you!’ Blair gasped. 

‘No….Blair....please….it’ll be fine….I  _ might _ end up with some sort of loss in my next….incarnation….but nothing serious….please….’ 

Blair hesitated, then held out her arm, taking in her breath sharply as the pain stabbed through it. Jarda managed to reach out and gently take the broken spot in his hands, and as he closed his eyes and focused, a golden glow surrounded Blair’s arm, and gradually, she started to feel better. 

Then the glow flared wildly, burning a little, although Blair felt suddenly more energetic; more  _ alive _ ….

Jarda pulled away from her arm. ‘Blair….back away….I can’t hold back the full blast any longer….’ 

A little scared, Blair crawled backwards, away from the nearly-dead Time Lord. 

‘Why would you do that for me?’ she whispered. ‘You barely know me - Time Lords usually couldn’t care less about me - ‘

‘Oh, Blair Kenneth,’ Jarda said, ‘I’ve known you….for a very long time….’ He laughed faintly. ‘I suppose if I regenerate into….an old form once more, it shan’t matter….not this time….’ 

Blair had to shield her eyes as the golden glow engulfed him. He cried out, then fell silent, then the glow gently faded away, and left behind….

Grey hair.

No beard. 

He pushed himself up and blinked his impossibly dark brown eyes. 

‘I….I cannot see very well…’ came the deep, warm, familiar voice. 

Blair felt like she had stopped breathing; she couldn’t believe it it was him it

was him it

was 

him….

‘ _ Master….? _ ’ she whispered.

‘Hello, dear Blair,’ the Master said.


	5. Episode Five

Blair let out a scream of joy and emotion and started sobbing. Through her tears, she heard quick footsteps and then felt the Master put his arms around her, enveloping her in a hug. 

‘It’s  _ you! _ ’ she sobbed. ‘ _ I can’t believe it’s you! _ ’ 

‘You’re alive….’ the Master whispered. ‘Oh, Blair you’re  _ alive _ ….all these years and I thought you were dead….’ he trailed off and started crying as well, and they stayed there for a long time, together again.

Blair didn’t want to let go. 

*****

Eventually they looked looked at each other. 

‘You look almost exactly the same….’ Blair breathed. ‘I didn’t know regeneration worked like that….’ 

‘It has for me, at least,’ the Master said. ‘I’m afraid I can’t see how different you look; I can’t see much of anything right now; everything is rather blurry.’ 

An idea shot through Blair’s mind; a memory she had never quite understood until now. 

‘Spectacles,’ she said. ‘You need spectacles. Big, round spectacles.’ 

‘That sounds like an excellent idea,’ he said. ‘However, anything of that sort is in the TARDIS, and we must retrieve the Youthstone before we go any further.’

‘I’ll do it; I’ve got the gloves,’ Blair said. The Master took went and picked up the device and followed her over. He quickly had the case unlocked, and Blair took the gem out gingerly. 

‘I guess you’ve added new functions to the TCE, then?’ she asked.

‘Mmm….it’s less of a TCE now….more of a multitool, although the TCE is still there for extreme emergencies. Quickly, though; you shouldn’t hold that stone for much longer, even with the gloves on.’ He looked around, then gestured to a part of the wall. 

‘There is a secret door over there….it isn’t quite visible, but the TARDIS databanks most certainly confirmed it.’ 

They went over, and the Master soon had the locking mechanism picked and the door open. They stepped through, and the Master led Blair down the hall a little ways. 

And then she saw her; the TARDIS; home; her friend. She felt tears coming to her eyes again. 

‘You still have the same TARDIS….’ she whispered. She could feel it in her mind; this was Aiva, beyond a shadow of a doubt. The Master nodded. 

‘I lost her for a long while, and then I found her again a few regenerations ago.’ The Master fished out his key and opened the door, and Blair stepped inside, trembling. 

She looked quite similar to the way she had all those years ago, but there were some small differences; the gallery had a fancier railing and fancier wrought iron steps, and there was a wooden bench around the console. 

The Master took the gem from her and she looked up. 

‘We shall return this to your friend, and hopefully it will never be stolen again.’ 

‘Master….when you said an alien developed it to siphon off temporal energy….did you mean the Alari Leader….? It reminds me of the way they worked.’ 

The Master nodded. 

Blair gave a short laugh. ‘Well I guess we’ve finally stopped them after all, then,’ she said. 

The Master dropped the gem into a lead box, came back over, and wrapped Blair in a hug again. 

‘We did, Blair.  _ Together _ .’ 

*****

‘She can’t have gone far,’ Lisar said. 

‘The Vortex manipulator is gone, Lisar; I just checked.’ Irving looked at her seriously. ‘I have no way of telling where she is.’ 

‘But surely you can track her on that?! It’s got to leave an artron trail, right?!’ 

‘It’s in the Vortex too briefly for that to happen; I’m not certain what we can do except wait and see if she sends us a message or signal.’ 

‘I don’t understand why she would just run off like that,’ Benny said. ‘It makes no sense - she wasn’t upset or anything, right?’

‘No; I would’ve known,’ Lisar said. ‘I just don’t know what to  _ do! _ ’ 

She put her head in her hands; she couldn’t bear the thought that Blair might’ve been kidnapped, or had an accident with the mini time machine, or….or who  _ knows _ what.

Then, there was a sound. A wheezing, groaning, ancient sound. She looked up, and watched as a grandfather clock started to materialize in the center of the room while everyone stared. 

What was obviously a TARDIS came to a stop, and then there was a brief silence, then the door slowly opened, and Blair poked her head out. 

‘ _ Blair! _ ’ Lisar shouted, and ran over to her. 

‘ _ Lisar! _ You’re not gonna  _ believe _ what’s happened!’ 

Lisar hugged her, then looked up. 

‘Why?! What happened?! I was so wor - ’ 

She broke off and stared at the figure standing behind Blair. 

‘What is it, Lisar?’ came Irving’s voice, but she was too dumbfounded to reply. She looked back at Blair, agape. 

‘You….you….it’s….’ 

Blair, absolutely grinning, nodded.

By now, Benny and Irving had walked over, and were staring in shock at the three of them. 

‘Hello again, Professor Summerfield,’ the Master said. He bowed, smirking a little. ‘And hello, Braxiatel. I haven’t seen either of you in centuries; fancy seeing you  _ both _ here at once….?’ 

Benny made a choked, slightly furious sound, while Irving seemed to be silently screaming his head off. Lisar grinned;  _ this _ was going to be interesting…. 

*****

Graduation came a week later. Blair was dressed in a Prydonian coloured robe, waiting in the line to get her diploma. She could see everyone in the crowd around her; Lisar, Benny, Ruth….even Jack and Peter were there, and Bev had arrived on campus in time for graduation as well. The Master was sitting in the second-to-front row, a Zirshaw tucked in his black suit pocket, the same shade of maroon as his waistcoat. They smiled at each other as Blair made her way past his row. 

She reached out as Braxiatel held out the diploma scroll and took it from him. He smiled at her. 

‘You’re going to do great things, Blair,’ he said. ‘I’m sure of it.’ 

Blair nodded and walked on, and watched as all the students in her classes got their diplomas and walked to the other side of the room where she was. 

‘What are you gonna do after this, Blair?’ one of the graduates asked her. 

Blair grinned. ‘I think I’m gonna have a long-anticipated gap year,’ she said.    
  
*****

All of her bags were packed that night, and there was a tearful goodbye between them all. 

‘There’s no way I’ll be away for long,’ Blair said. ‘I’m  _ definitely _ coming back to see you all.’ 

‘Stay safe out among the stars, Blair; it’s a big universe,’ Brax said. Blair grinned. 

‘I know. That’s why I love it.’ 

Lisar hugged Blair for the third time, then they smiled at each other. 

‘Be seeing you around,’ Lisar said. Blair nodded. 

‘I must thank you greatly for keeping Blair safe from harm,’ the Master said, quietly. ‘It is a relief to know she has been amongst friends all this time.’ 

Benny smirked. ‘And it’s a relief to know you’re not the same Time Lord who tried to - hey! Brax - stop elbowing me!’ 

Brax only laughed. 

‘See you later, then!’ Blair said, and hefted her backpack more firmly up on her shoulders. The Master disappeared inside the TARDIS, and with a deep breath, Blair followed him in. 

The door closed behind her, and she set her backpack down in the Alcove.

‘I have to know something,’ she said. 

‘Mm….?’ 

‘When you healed my arm….what happened with the overspill of energy? What did it….do to me? Am I gonna get sick….like radiation….?’ The Master shook his head and smiled broadly. 

‘Not with that small amount. You’re going to be  _ perfectly _ fine, Blair,’ he said. ‘In fact, it’s quite likely that the combination of excess regeneration energy and your time on Gallifrey has given you an extended lifespan.’ 

Blair’s eyes widened.

_ A longer lifespan _ …. Her mind reeled with the wonderful implications of it. 

Grinning, she walked over to the console.

‘Where are we going?’ she asked. 

The Master looked up. ‘How about….’ He laughed. ‘.... _ Pochillia? _ ’ Blair grinned. 

‘That sounds  _ fab! _ ’ She reached out and put a hand on the dematerialisation lever. ‘Shall we?’ 

The Master entered the last of the coordinates and put his hand on the lever as well. 

‘Most  _ certainly _ ,’ he said. 

They both pulled the lever, and the time rotors rose and fell, as the TARDIS slipped into the Vortex, and into infinity.   
  


_ ….and they all lived happily ever after. _

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Sorcerer's Apprentice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375075) by [TheBigCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBigCat/pseuds/TheBigCat)




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